Elastic fabric and garment



Dec. 21, 1937. P, ADAMSON 2,103,133

ELASTIC FABRIC AND GARMENT Filed June l0, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORBgm?.

ATTORN Y Dec. 2l, 1937.

P. ADAMsoN l 2,103,133

ELASTIG FABRIC AND GARMENT Filed June 1o, 193s 2 sheets-sheet 2 l/Imgglljllgguliu- MMI/mln; li

BY effe/MMM# gaaf@ ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 21,1937

PATENT OFFICE -ELASTIC FABRIC AND GARMENT Percy Adamson, Rye, N.

States Rubber Company,

Y. assigner to United New York, N. Y., a

corporation ofNew Jersey Application June 10, 1933, Serial No. 675,190 9claim.l (o1. ca -19o) This invention relates to improvements in elasticfabrics and garments, and more particularly to knitted and woven fabricsand garments of a new type having a predetermined 'or con- 6 trolledstretch in two directions.

This application is a continuation-impart of my application Serial No.604,379, filed` April ll, 1932.

In rnyvprior Patent No. 1,822,847, granted Sept. 8, 1931, there isdisclosed a new type of elastic thread or yarn having a fine rubber corecovered with textile fibres preferably helicallylwound with two windingsinopposite directions over the elastic core. This elastic yarn iscapable of being knitted on fine gauge knitting machines, and may bereadily woven into fabric materialsutllizing the elastic threadl in thewarp and weft, or filling., of such woven material. The core of theelastic yarn described in my prior patent is preferably made directlyfrom an aqueous dis'- persion of rubber such as latex, as described inthe patent to Hopkinson and Gibbons No. 1,545,257, granted July '1,1925, in order to produce an elastic yarn or thread of a gauge fineenough for use in such knitting and weaving operations, but it isv notessential to so produce the rubber core where the article or fabric isof l a quality permitting less uniform rubber cores to be used and forsuch articles or fabrics other methods of producing the rubber cores maybe utilized. A

The rubber core, preferably made directly from latex as above described,is preferably round and is covered with a relatively inelastic fibrouscovering ofl textile material of the type desired. The relativelyinelastic fibrous covering may be applied in any suitable and convenientmanner, as those skilled inthe art will understand` lYarns of cotton,linen, flax, silk, rayon, wool or the 40 like, or mixtures of these, maybe employed, and while they may be braided about therubber core, it ispreferred to use right and left helical windings of the same ordifferent pitch, the relative pitch of the windings'being selected withdue consideration to the size-and nature of the mate rials being woundin order to obtain an approximately balanced elastic yarn, relativelyfree from a tendency to kink. The helical windings may be of like ordifferent materials and may either consist of one or more ends ofyarn-or plied yarn de` pending upon the characteristics it is desiredlto build into the elastic yarn to meet the requirements 4of the serviceto which it is to be subjected in the fabricimanufactured' therefrom. Ingeneral the rubber core while being wound and covthe spirit of theinvention. 1

ered should be elongated uniformly. The final size of the coveredelastic yarn will depend yon s the rubber core and the type of coveringthreads and the amount'of stretch given the core while covering. l

Covered elastic yarns preferably with a round core of rubber depositeddirectly from an aqueous dispersion of rubber may be made in finishedsizes small enough to knit on fine gauge knitting machines and, ifdesired, of a size approximately the same as a yarn made wholly oftextile material, with which it may be knitted, if desired, in'alternatecourses or plated with the same. In fabrication it is knitted under notension as distinguished from the knitting of non-elastic yarns. Coarseand fine elastic yarns may be used as laid-in yarns in, knittedmaterials and may be used in vconjunction with knitted fine elasticyarns as above described.

yRubber threads preferably with a round ruby ber core deposited directlyfrom an aqueous dispersion of rubber and. covered with textile materialmay be used in woven materials, preferably in conjunction withrelatively inelastic threads of textile material, in the warp and weft,or filler, to produce a new type of commercial `woven material having a'stretch both inl the direction of the warp and weft. Many differenttypes of new fabrics may be evolved by utilizing the'elastlc threads inthe warp or weft or both, alone, or together with relatively inelasticthreads.

As stated in my prior patent above referred to, the old elastic yarns,.as heretoforey utilized in making fabrics and articles, generally, ifAnot invariably, imparted a capacity to stretch in one direction only.In other words, they were practically lonly used for making articleswhich resisted a. one-direction pull or which exerted a constrictiveforce in one direction. Knitted and woven fabrics, as described herein,may nowlbe made with a capacity to stretch in two directions, lengthwiseand widthwise of the fabric. In other words, fabrics and articles maynow be made which will resist a two-directional pull, or exert the'desired contractive forces in two directions.

Several embodiments of the present invention especially adapted for themanufacture of cor sets, girdles, or like supporting garments areillustrated in the accompanying drawings and it is without intention tolimit the invention to the particular fabrics shown, thatA the same areincluded since many fabrics differing from the ones illustrated may bemade without departing from vns In the drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates a covered elastic yarn preferably used in themanufacture of the fabrics of the present invention;

Figs. 2 to 10 illustrate a Wide variety of textile fabrics madeaccording to the present invention; and

Fig. 11 illustrates a girdle made in whole or in part of one or more ofthe fabrics of the present invention. 4

Referring more particularly tol Fig. 1, there is shown an elastic yarncapable of being knitted on a' ne gauge knitting machine or used in thewarp and weft of woven materials, with a round rubber core I depositeddirectly from latex byextruding the latex through a nozzle into a bathof coagulantkremoving the thus formed lilamentary coagulum from thecoagulating bath, drying and vulcanizing. The rubber core is coveredWhile under tension with right and left windings Il and I2 of textileyarn of the type de- Sired. 'I'his preferred 'type' of elastic thread oryarn, with a round rubber core deposited directly from an aqueousdispersion of rubber, is the type of elastic thread or yarn preferredfor both, fine and coarse` elastic yarns in the various fabrics,although as above described other kinds of core may be utilized inproducing the elastic yarn.

Fig. 2 illustrates a fabric composed of. elastic yarn and inelastic orordinary yarn. The fabrics in this gure and the other figuresillustrating knitted fabrics are shown in greatly stretched condition.for facilitating the illustration of the constructions thereof. yarn I3and inelastic yarn I4 are knitted in alternate courses providingan-elastic material with a desired amount of stretch and recovery fromstretching or resistance to stretch, sometimes called contractlve force,in the direction of the courses and wales. The degree of stretch andVrecovery from stretch may be varied as desired by utilizing varioustypes of yarns, sizes of yarns, varying the courses of elastic andnon-elastic yarns, for example, having. alternate bands of two ofv eachkind of courses or one course of inelastic and two courses of elasticyarns, or the like. Such a knitted fabric may be said to have apredetermined or controlled stretch in two directions, in this case bothin the direction of the courses and in thedirection ofthe wales of thematerial. A foundation garment made with the materialof Fig. 2 with theknitted courses running vertically of the garment will have a nrm orstrong stretch around and an easy or weak stretch up and down, thecontractive force being materially greater in the direction of the walesthan in the direction of This type of fabric similarly to the variousother fabrics is especially adapted for the manufacture of corsets,

the courses under like conditions.

girdles or like supporting garments where the stretch in two directionsproduces a garment that will not ride up and 'down during natural movements of the body.

Figure 3 illustrates another knitted fabric for foundationgarmentshaving coarse elastic yarns laid in the knitted fabric. 'I'hefabric as illustrated shows alternate courses I5 and I 6 of elastic andinelastic yarns respectively and coarse elastic yarn I 1' laid in thecourses of inelastic yarn. This produces an entirely new type ofmaterial with laid-in elastic yarns which has a capacity for stretchinga desired amount, depending on the types of yarns used, in twodirections, that is along the laid-in yarns or courses and also alongthe wales or in a direction at right angles to the In Figure 2, theelasticskilled in the art. Such a fabric when made into corset, girdleor like supporting garment is preferably utilized-with the coarselaid-in yarns II running horizontally of the garment to give the-garment a greater resistance to stretching around the body and a lesserresistance to stretching up and down, the laid-in elastic yarnsproducing a strong contractlve effort and the knitted elastic yarnsproducing a materially lesser contractive effort as the garment is worn.'Ihe direction in which stretch is more greatly resisted results in thegarment having a greater contractlve force in that direction.

Fabrics having a predetermined or controlled "stretch in two directionsmay be formed with selected portions, such as borders and the likehaving a stretch in only one direction. For example,

the new type twoway stretch fabric with laidin coarse elastic yarns andne knitted elastic and inelastic yarns as shown in Fig. 3 may beintegrali ly knitted with borders or other sections made of one-waystretch fabric with only laid-in coarse.A

elastic yarns and fine knitted inelastic yarns,- in other words with theknitted elastic yarn of the fabric shown in Fig. 3 omitted. Such acomposite fabric is shown in Figure 4 where the borders A to B and C toD are made with laid-in coarse elastic yarns and fine knitted inelasticyarnand have a capacity to stretch in only one direction lengthwise ofthe fabric, while the middle section B to C is made with laid-in coarseelastic yarns and line knitted elastic and-inelastic yarns as shown inFigure 3 and has a capacity to stretch in the two directions lengthwiseand crosswise of the fabric. The construction may readily be seen in theenlarged portion of the Figure 4. 'I'he middle section B to C is thesame as the fabric of Figure 3, with alternate csourses of elastic yarnI5 and inelastic yarn I6, with coarser elastic yarn I1 laid in thecourses of inelastic yarn. The border sections A to B and C to D arecomposed of knitted courses of the inelastic yarn I6 and coarse elasticyarns I'I laid '-in the courses of inelastic yarn, and without theknitted lastic yarngas in the sections B to C.

This pro uces a fabric or web, especially adapt-y stretching bothlengthwise and crosswise of the fabric while the border portions arecapable only of stretch in a lengthwise direction. As with the fabric ofFigure 3,-the fabric of Figure 4 is preferably made into the supportinggarment with the laid-in yarns running around the garment. 'I'he one-Waystretch portion may, of course, constitute one or more marginal,`border, or inlaid portions, of the desired width.

Fig. 5 illustrates another type of foundation garment fabric having apredetermined or controlled stretch in two directions and composed ofknitted elastic and inastic yarns together with laid-in coarse elasticyarns. This material, as will readily be understood.' may be knitted ona Raschel warp knitting machine. The construction of the fabric may betermed. a one-in yarn -II and one beam of'inelastic yarn I9 and a,`

arcaica and one-out knit, with a heavy elastic yarn laid in. Inpractice, one beam will be of fineelastic heavy elastic yarn 29 laid-in.covering the entire width of the piece. The fabric will have a quickerrecovery from stretching and 'hence a socalled stronger stretch orgreater resistance to yarns, that is widthwise of the fabric, and aslower recovery from stretching and hence a so-called weaker stretch orlesser resistance to stretching lengthwise of the fabric.4 In general,this type of fabric is of a looser construction than the fabric showninFig. 3 and is well adapted to the manufacture of light weight foundationgare'l ments.

Figure 6 illustrates another fabric for a supporting garment having thedesired resistance to stretching "in the two directions lengthwise andwidthwise -of the fabric. This fabric comprises knitted inelastic yarnand knitted elastic yarn commensurate in size with the inelastic yarn,and laid-in elastic yarns preferably of the same size as the knittedelastic yarn. The fabric, which, as is readily discernible, may be madeon a fiat bed knitting-machine with the proper laying-'in attachments,is preferably utilized in a supportcourses of the knitted yarns,

ing garment with the straight laid-in elastic yarns horizontal ofv thegarment or running aroimd the same, since the contractive effort of thestraight laid-in yarns as the garment is worn is stronger than that ofthe knitted elastic yarns due to their freedom from a looped or knittedstructure, thus providing a greater resistance to.

pull or stretching around the bodyK than up and down. The fabric showsknitted ne elastic yarns 2| and 22 and knitted fine inelastic yarn 23with fine elastic yarns 2l similar to the knitted elastic yarns 2| and22 laid-inthe loops of the knitted elastic yarns 2| and 22 as shown.Such a fabric is capable of simultaneous stretching in the direction o fthe laid-in elastic yarns 24 and at right angles' thereto, and it isobvious that under the same conditions a greater resistance tostretching or pull-back will be exerted in the direction of the parallellaid-in yarns by virtue of their freedom from loops than in thedirection at right angles thereto.

Figure 7 illustrates a fabric for use in sup- A porting 'garments madeon a ribber with a plating and laying-in attachment as willl be obviousto those skilled in the art. Fine elastic yarn 25 and fine inelasticyarn 26 are knitted together on a ribber and plated so that theinelastic yarn i --appears onboth faces of the fabric on the outside ofthe ribs. Fine elastic yarns 29, substantially identical withknittedelastic yarns 2l (but obviously not necessarily so), are laidin'each of the knitted courses of the plated elastic and inelasticyarns. As in the case of the fabric illustrated in Figure 6, this fabricis capable of simultaneous stretching in two directions, alongthc thatis, along the laid-in yarns, and at right angles thereto or along thewales or ribs of the knitted yarns. Also under the same conditions of-stretching or elongation or as in'wear, there will be a greaterresistance 'to the stretching or a greater contrac- 'tive force in thedirection of the laid-in yarns by virtue of their freedom from' loopsdue to knitting than in the direction of the'lwales.` As is usual withelastic fabrics having knitted elastic yarns and laid-inelastic yarnsasshown in Figures 3 .to 6. th'e resistance to stretching of thepfarallel laid-in elastic yarns is greater under the stretching in thedirection of the coarse laid-in l silk threads 29, line elastic threads30 with cotton covering, and cotton threads 3l. The silk threads 29 formone face of the material, as clearly shown in the figure, and the backof the material Ais of the cotton covered elastic threads, the cottoninelastic thread being practically hidden in the finished material in amanner well known in the art. This material, due to the incorporation ofelastic threads in the weft as well as warp, may also be described asa-predetermined or controlled two-way stretch fabric. 'As stated above,many other Atypes of new fabrics may be evolv'ed by utilizing theelastic threads in the warp-or weft, or both, alone, or together withkrelatively inelastic threads. Various known weaves may be used, and ifdesired, silk or other inelastic material may be used for both the frontand back faces, or, if desired, woven materials with elastic yarn inboth the front and back faces or entirely composed of elastic yarn maybe made.

In corsets, girdles and like foundation garments matie with controlledtwo-Way stretch lelastic wearer than in the vdirection up and down thebody.

as the garment is worn. It is desired to confine or hold the body inradially and thus enhance the ligure, and yet allow freedom for'bendingAmovements and the like without the garment riding up and. necessitatingits being pulled down Y to its proper position on return of the body toIt is thus preferred to'have greater resistance to stretching orstronger contractive force in one direction of the woven fabric than inthe other direction. The warp and normal posture.

- weft may be so controlled that the greater resistance to stretchingmay be either lengthwise lor widthwise of the fabric, and the fabricshould preferably be incorporated in the foundation garment so that thedirectionof greater resistance is around the garment. This greaterrefsistance .to vstretching or strongercontractive -force in onedirection, and lesser resistance to stretching or weaker contractiveforce in the other direction of the fabric, is sometimes termed rm orquick" or strong stretch in the one direction and easy" or sleazy orweak" stretch in the other direction.l The greater resistance tostretching'in one direction than in the other provides a quickerrecovery from stretching-or greater snap or kick or pull-back in thatdirection than inthe other. 'Ihe resistance of the fabric to stretchingmay be varied in numerous ways. For example, a larger number of elasticthreads of the same size and under the same tension will obviouslyproduce a greater resistance to stretching than a smaller number.

'Ihe weaving of the elastic threads under a'high tension or near theirsafe limit of stretch will generallygive a greater resistance tostretching than weaving the same under a lower tension or only at afraction of' their safe limit of stretch.

The covering of the rubber core while it is held under a high degree .oftension will produce 'an elastic thread with the covering holding thecore elongated and hence produce a thread having itself a greaterresistance to stretching than a rubber thread covered While the core isunder relatively little tension, and when such threads are incorporatedin a fabric they will exert a greater contractive eiort than threadscovered while under little tension. Likewise elastic threads having alarger size of rubber core will effect a greater contractive eiort thanelastic threads of smaller size and provide a greater resistance tostretch in the fabric, other conditions being equal. The amount ofstretch or elongation is generally different in the lengthwise andwidthwise directions, and may be varied by the amoun't of tension put onthe elastic thread in the weaving operation, especially if usedinconjunction with parallel inelastic threads. The elastic threads aregenerally incorporated in the warp -at or near maximum safe tension,while in the weft they are generally incorporated at less than themaximum safe tension in order to reduce the shrinkage widthwise of thefabric by virtue of the elastic weft threads. When inelastic threads arewoven parallel to the elastic threads, such inelastic threads limit thestretch of the elastic threads. v

If the elastic threads are woven at or near their 'maximum safe tensionand inelasticthreads are incorporated in the same direction in thefabric, the inelastic threads will allow substantially full stretchingof the elastic thread and will only limit the stretch of the elasticthread at or near its maximum extensibility. If the elastic threads are.woven at less than the maximum safe tension and inelastic threads yareincorporated in the same direction in the fabric, such inelastic threadswill obviously limit the stretch of the elastic threads to less thantheir maximum extensibility. 'I'he amount of stretch may also be variedby varying the size and numbers of the elastic threads. The amount ofAstretch and the resistance to stretching of the fabric or garment mayalso be varied by the sizes and amount of inelastic threads vused withthe elastic threads, and by the construction of the weave and by manyother factors. Other means of accomplishing these results will obviouslysuggest themselves to persons skilled in the art.

Figures 9 and 10 show conventional weaving diagrams of woven fabricshaving a controlled stretch in"- two directions and are naturally onlyintended to further illustrate'the present .invention.

Fig. '9 is a diagram of a woven fabric havingv a weft composed of fineelastic threads 32, 33, and a warp composed of heav'y elastic threads34. the elastic warp threads being associated with three cottonv threads35 and one rayon thread 36 for each elastic warp thread. As clearlyshown in the diagram, the elastic Wefts 32 and 33 are not interwovenwith the elastic warps 34 and are face and back wef'ts, the inelasticwarps 35 and 36 being interwoven with the elastic wefts as indicated. i

Fig. 10`s a diagram of ail/oven fabric having a Weit composed of fineelastic threads 31, 38, preferably incorporated at less than theirmaximum tension to prevent too great Ta decrease in width when taken offthe loor'n and finished, and a we rp b composed of fine elastic threads39, said elastic "warp threads being incorporated under substantiallymaximum tension and associated with four inelastic threads 40 for eachelastic warp thread. The elastic wefts 31 and. 38 are not interwovenwith the elastic warps 39 and are face and back wefts, the inelasticwarps 40 being interwoven with the elastic wefts as indicated.

Figure 11 .illustrates a typical girdle made in whole or in part of anyon'e or more of the various fabrics of the present invention.

It is understood that the invention is not limited to the specifictextile fabrics and articles shown' in the illustrations and describedin the specification, as it will be Aevident to those skilled in the artthat the invention permits of various modifications and applicationswithout departing from the spirit thereof, and itis my intention not tobe limited in the scope'of'the invention except as required by the stateof the art and as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. A warp knit fabric comprising elastic and inelastic yarnsincorporated therein in a one-in and one-out knit, said fabric alsocomprising elastic yarn laid-in the width of the fabric.

2. A warp knit fabric comprising elastic and inelastic yarnsincorporated therein in a one-in and one-out knit, said fabric alsocomprising elastic yarn of a larger size than said knitted elastic yarnlaid-in the width of the fabric.

3. A garment of the corset type comprising a body-encircling memberhaving a section formed of material closely knit from elastic andinelastic threads, said threads being so arranged in said garment as topermit substantial stretching by said section in all directions butproviding a firm molding action transversely of the body and an easierstretch longitudinally of the garment to avoid slippage of said sectionrelative to the body in bending. l

4. A garment of 'the corset type comprising a body-encircling memberhaving a section formed of material closely knit from elastic andinelastic threads, said threads being so arranged in said garment as topermit substantial stretching by said section in all directions butproviding a flrm molding action to the abdomen, hips and buttockstransversely of the body and an easier stretch longitudinally of thegarment to avoid slippage of said section relative'to the body inbending.

5. A garment of the class described for molding and confining the lowerportion of the body, comprising a wide body-encircling member havins asection formed ofknitted elastic and inelasticthreads and which sectionis-capable of substantial 'and simultaneous stretching longitudinallyand transversely and is adapted to impart to the garment-as worn a firmmolding action to the abdomen, hips and buttocks transversely of thebody and an easier stretch longitudinally of the body to avoid slippageof said section relative to the body in bending.

6. A garment of the corset or girdle type, comprising a body encirclingmember having a section formed at least-to a substantial degree ofknitted elastic threads to cause the section to be capable of asubstantial and simultaneous stretch longitudinally and transversely anuto be capable of imparting to the garment as worn a firm molding actionto the abdomen, hips and buttocks transversely of the body and an easystretch longitudinally of the body to avoid slippage of said sectionrelative to the body in bending. y

7. A garment of the corset or girdle type. comprising a body encirclingmember having a secalong certain courses and arranged to cause thesection to be capable of a. substantial and simultaneous stretchlongitudinally and transversely and to be capable of imparting to thegarment as worn a firm molding action to the abdomen,

v hips and buttocks transversely of the body and an easy stretchlongitudinally of the body to avoid slippage of said section relative tothe body in bending. l

`8. A garment of the corset or girdle type, comprising a body encirclingmember having a section formed of knittedelastic and inelastic threadsand laid-in elastic threads extended along certain courses, said laid-inthreads being so arrangedin the garment as to impart to the garment whenworn a firm molding action to the abdomen, hips and. buttockstransversely of the body while the knitted elastic threads impart to thegarment when worn stretch longitudinally of the lbody to avoid slipasubstantial.

page of said section relative to the body in bend- 9. A garment of thecharacter described adapted to encircle the hips of the wearer and beworn next to the body, said garment including porous materialcomprisingknitted strands at least some rows of which are of elasticmaterial in combination with other strands of elastic material laidalong certain of said knitted rows, said material `being positioned atthe rear of the wearerand extending between points on the posteriorportions of the wearer above and below a point of greater posterioryprojection-than either of said points.

PERCY ADAMSON.

